NHL News and Rumors – June 17, 2009

Wings’ Hossa wants to have a long-term dealLeafs’ turn to court Monster

STEVE BUFFERY of SUN MEDIA reports that

The Maple Leafs will be hoping to mash out a deal when the Monster touches down in Toronto this week. The Leafs are hoping to sign the 24-year-old Gustavsson, widely considered the best goaltender outside of the NHL last season, to a contract. There are reportedly three other NHL teams are vying for his services: The San Jose Sharks, Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche.

Gustavsson visited Denver yesterday to meet and greet the Avalanche staff and is expected to touch down in the other cities this week. The Denver Post reported that former Avalanche star Peter Forsberg, a fellow Swede, spoke on behalf of the Colorado franchise during Gustavsson’s visit.

Burke is hoping the Monster backs up Vesa Toskala in Toronto this season, but if the GM is unable to sign Gustavsson, he’ll likely sign a free agent backup or draft a goaltending prospect. Gustavsson guided Farjestad to the Swedish Elite League championship last season and posted a 1.96 goals against average and stellar .932 save percentage during the regular season.

He’s averaged just under 90 points a year over the past four seasons. He’s led the Bruins in scoring in each of his three seasons in Boston and earned All-Star nods in each of the last two years.

Oh, and he owns a no-trade clause as well.

So, why does Marc Savard’s name keep coming up in trade rumors this offseason?

Such is life in the salary cap era. The Bruins are precariously close to the cap ceiling with restricted free agents Phil Kessel, Matt Hunwick and Byron Bitz left to sign, not to mention any potential shopping in the unrestricted free agent market.

There’s also the matter of next year, when Savard, Milan Lucic, Blake Wheeler, Aaron Ward, Andrew Ference, Mark Stuart and Tuukka Rask all have expiring contracts and the cap is expected to contract significantly as the economy continues to flounder.

Something has to give, and more than likely someone has to go. Signing Savard after next year might not be possible, so getting something in return for him now, while also freeing up his $5 million cap hit this year does hold some allure if he’d be willing to consent to a deal.

Detroit — When Marian Hossa came to Detroit, he had Monday playing out a little different. Hossa turned down more lucrative, multiyear contracts — including with Pittsburgh — to sign a one-year deal with Detroit. In doing so, Hossa, a forward, envisioned Monday he’d be riding down Woodward Avenue atop a convertible to thousands of Detroiters screaming his name after a Stanley Cup title run.

Instead, Hossa and the other Wings were left cleaning out their lockers and wondering what went wrong.

Now, for Hossa, it also might mark the last time he puts on a Wings jersey.

Hossa, a free agent to be, made it clear Monday he would not sign another one-year contract like the $7.45 million deal he signed last offseason. He’s looking to cash in on a long-term deal and wants the security that goes with that type of deal. Whether that’s with Detroit — or another team — is yet to be determined.

“Detroit is on the top of my list, for sure,” he said. “I don’t feel like moving all the time.” With Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Johan Franzen, Valtteri Filppula, Brian Rafalski and Dan Cleary signed to large, long-term deals, the Wings don’t have the cap space to be large players in the free-agent market this offseason. They will have around $4 million to play with.